Early Childhood Blog

Early Years

Staff writer Christina A. Samuels and Contributing Writer Marva Hinton provided insight, news, and analysis on early-childhood education. This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: early childhood.

Early Childhood More Than Two Hours of TV Daily Affects Children's School Readiness, Study Finds
Children from low- and middle-income families who watched TV that much showed decreases in certain academic skills, but children from more-affluent families didn't, a new study says.
Christina A. Samuels, March 1, 2017
2 min read
Early Childhood Study: Kindergartners Start School With More Academic Skills Than in Past
A comparison of kindergarten students in 1998 and 2010 finds children entering school with stronger skills in math and literacy, especially among black students.
Christina A. Samuels, February 27, 2017
3 min read
Early Childhood Head Start Could Be Innovator for Early-Childhood Workforce, Ed. Group Says
The federal preschool program for low-income children could be used to try out new programs to support teachers and children, says a education consulting group.
Christina A. Samuels, February 21, 2017
1 min read
Early Childhood Study on Educare Centers Finds Improved Outcomes for Young Children
The Educare model appears to show positive results for those who spent a year in the program, which blends private, public and Head Start dollars for a birth-to-5 program.
Christina A. Samuels, February 15, 2017
2 min read
Early Childhood Think Tank Offers Policy Prescriptions on Early Childhood
The American Enterprise Institute's policy document focuses on building more flexibility for families into federal programs aimed at supporting working families with young children.
Christina A. Samuels, February 13, 2017
4 min read
Early Childhood Parents Generally Like Their Child's Preschool—And That Can Be a Problem
A working paper found that parents whose children were enrolled in publicly-funded preschool in Louisiana tended to be satisfied with their choices, even if their children were enrolled in a center given low marks by outside evaluators.
Christina A. Samuels, January 30, 2017
3 min read
Early Childhood Advocates Coalesce Around Tax Policy Proposals to Support Early Learning
A coalition of business and early-childhood groups urges the Trump administration to weigh changes that could help low- and moderate-income families pay for child care and preschool.
Christina A. Samuels, January 24, 2017
2 min read
Early Childhood N.Y.C. Unveils 'Quality Snapshots,' New Evaluation of City Preschool Program
As New York City releases new quality ratings on prekindergarten programs, its new pre-K quality snapshots could serve as a model for other jurisdictions.
Christina A. Samuels, January 18, 2017
3 min read
Early Childhood Ed. Dept. Awards $3 Million for 'Pay For Success' Early Learning Feasibility Pilots
Eight communities will share in the money, which will be used to pay for studies to determine how best to support private investment in early-education programs.
Christina A. Samuels, January 10, 2017
1 min read
Early Childhood More Than 600 Head Start Programs to Lengthen Hours Under New Funding
The new funding provides about a third of the money needed to offer all Head Start children a full school day and full year, which is a change required under new performance standards.
Christina A. Samuels, January 3, 2017
3 min read
Early Childhood Articles About Early-Childhood Math Drove Reader Interest in 2016
Blog posts related to children developing math skills were among the most-read articles of the past year.
Christina A. Samuels, December 30, 2016
2 min read
Early Childhood Head Start: One Program, Dramatic Differences Among States, Study Finds
An analysis of federal reports shows the differences in Head Start programs among the states on issues such as teacher pay, student enrollment and length of program day.
Christina A. Samuels, December 14, 2016
4 min read
Early Childhood Early Intervention Pays Off for Disadvantaged Children, Says New Study
James J. Heckman, a Nobel-prize winning economist, has released a study showing significant benefits for a high-intensity program that intervened with children starting from infancy.
Christina A. Samuels, December 12, 2016
4 min read
Early Childhood 'Pay for Success' Funding Model Focus of Policy Toolkit
The Urban Institute released a toolkit aimed at policymakers and investors interested in using private dollars to pay for public programs, such as prekindergarten.
Christina A. Samuels, December 7, 2016
2 min read